Unrequited Love: Diary of an Accidental Activist
by Dennis Altman
Monash University Publishing. 231 pages, $29.95
AN ENGAGING, intelligent memoir by Australian writer, scholar, and activist Dennis Altman, Unrequited Love is written as a diary that covers the years from 2016, just after the U.S. Presidential election, to the start of 2019. Altman also looks back at his beginnings as a scholar and a gay rights activist.
The book follows Altman around the world for nearly three years, mainly in various parts of Australia and the U.S., but also throughout Europe, as he speaks at conferences and writers’ panels and meets with friends he has known for many years. Politics is a major topic of conversation at these gatherings, both those of the gay rights movement and politics in general in Australia and the U.S. American readers will gain a reasonably good understanding of Australia’s political system and a sense of the various MPs and prime ministers who have helped shaped its history.He also comments on recent major political events, noting that after Brexit passed, several MPs born in parts of the U.K. resigned their seats, as there was uncertainty about whether they could still hold office under Australian law.
The title describes the unusual relationship between the U.S. and Australia, in which Australia takes its lead in many ways from the U.S., always hoping, as Altman says, for the latter to acknowledge it as an important partner and never getting quite the recognition it wants. Altman’s own feelings about the U.S. are those of an unrequited lover as well: a love for many aspects of the country that are returned with failures and disappointments—especially since Trump won the presidency. He lived in New York in the early 1970s and fell into activism through his roommate’s friend, so in many ways America helped to shape his life. However, he tends to downplay his role as an activist, arguing that activism requires a commitment to a specific cause, whereas he sees more nuances and doesn’t always agree with the decisions made by groups. Plus, he jokes: “I’ve missed more rallies than I’ve attended.”
Altman also talks about the history of the worldwide gay rights movement, including some events not known by many Americans. He participates in the 40th anniversary of Sydney’s Mardi Gras, which started in 1978 “as part of a Gay Solidarity event [and is]now the largest night-time event in Australia.” His feelings about the movement today are complex. He applauds young people who acknowledge the accomplishments of earlier generations in fighting for gay rights but worries that the worldwide movement takes too much of its inspiration from American events, such as naming Pride parades after Stonewall. He wonders whether the #MeToo movement, in its passion to speak the truth about sexual harassment, might overreach their target and snare some men, including some gay men, for bumbling pickup moves or clumsy attempts at humor.
The memoir is filled with reminiscences about Altman’s friendships with authors like Christopher Isherwood, Gore Vidal, and Edmund White, as well as insightful commentary on other novelists. He notes, for example, that André Aciman, who is straight, gently avoids answering questions about whether Call Me by Your Name is based on his own life experiences. With charm and intellect, Unrequited Love captures the life of a dedicated public intellectual.
Charles Green is a writer based in Annapolis, Maryland.
